Handbook for Product Social Impact Assessment

The Handbook for Product Social Impact Assessment proposes a practical methodology for organizations to assess the social impacts of products. It was developed to make it more practical and feasible for organizations to conduct product social impact assessment, using a consistent method and making efficient use of human and financial resources. By supporting the assessment of social performance, this handbook aims to enable organizations to achieve greater insight into the social impacts of their products.

The Handbook answers the important questions sustainability professionals have, including:

Why should I apply Product Social Impact Assessment?

What are possible social impact risks that I need to mitigate?

How can I balance social compliance, social responsibility, and product development?

How do I execute a Product Social Impact Assessment and quantify social impacts?

How do I interpret the results of a Product Social Impact Assessment to help my business become more sustainable?

Currently the Roundtable is working on an update of the handbook, the new edition will be presented in the 6th S-LCA Conference in Pescara, Italy on September 2018

Getting started with the assessment

It can be challenging to get started with social assessment. Where do you get started and what do you need to consider? The goal of the application guidance is to help you with this. It aims to guide you through each of the steps of the product social impact assessment. We will provide more information:

What each of the step entails

What you need to do in each step

Tools and templates which can help you with the assessment

Click on of the steps to get more information >>

Tools to get started

Tool to calculate social impact

We have developed a tool to help you with calculating your social impact and show the results. The document guides you through each step of the social impact assessment method.

General introduction for your company

For a successful product social impact assessment, it is important to inform and involve the relevant departments and suppliers in the process. It helps to be clear on the value of product social impact assessment and what is needed from them. This introduction can form the basis of your communications.